Harrisburg outdoors show kicks off Saturday

January 27, 2014|Gary Blockus

Polar vortex be darned, cabin fever has to be setting in for a variety of outdoor enthusiasts, who are ready to leave the comfort of their coal stoves and take a break from tying flies to get out and about.

This weekend, they have their opportunity.

The Great American Outdoor Show will take place Feb. 1-9 at the state Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg. More than 1,000 exhibitors, vendors and outfitters are expected top be displaying products, including the controversial modern sporting rifles.

The show takes the place of the Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show in Harrisburg, which folded last year due to the promoter banning the exhibition of military-style semi-automatic weapons.

The National Rifle Association runs the new show and has said there will also be an expanded shooting sports section to go along with the traditional offerings of hunting, fishing, camping, boating and archery

In order to find your way around the show, the NRA has released GAOS 2014, a free mobile app for iOS and Android products available at the Apple App Store, Google Play and http://GAOS.NRA.org.

The free app features floor plans, exhibitor locations, seminar and event times and other important information to successfully make your way through the 650,000 square feet of exhibition space that GAOS will take up.

Country star Trace Adkins was supposed to headline a concert at the show on Saturday, Feb. 8, but he entered rehab two weeks ago. Brantley Gilbert is replacing him for the concert in the Farm Show Complex's Large Arena.

Brantley will be joined at the concert by singer/songwriter Cheryl LuQuire and local music talent, as well as and "HeadHunters TV" Outdoor Channel star, Nate Hosie. Tickets previously purchased for Trace Adkins will be honored.

Tickets for the concert are $30 for stadium seating and $35 for floor seating.

Tickets for the concert and admission to the GAOS can be purchased online at https://secure.interactiveticketing.com/a/53bd59. General admission tickets to the GAOS are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and $6 for children ages 6-12.

Voluntary youth fishing license $1: The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission held its first quarterly meeting last week and approved a voluntary $1 fishing license for anglers under age 16. The revenue raised from the sale of the voluntary license will be used for furthering youth fishing initiatives.

In addition, the extra revenue generated by the PFBC through the voluntary license sale will be counted toward additional federal aid because the Sport Fish Restoration Act of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ties federal funds to the number of anglers licensed in a state. The PFBC estimated that each $1 voluntary youth license sold could net the agency as much as $5 additional in federal funds.

The PFBC, responding to pressure to remove the wearing of a fishing license, came up with another option that passed last week as well. In addition to purchasing your regular fishing license, you can buy for $5 a new fishing license button, which was used in the 1940s through 1950s, and offered briefly in 1974 and 1975. You only need to wear the button, not the regular license.

To spur angler interest in the button, the PFBC is running an online poll to vote for their preferred color of the button. The color with the highest vote total will be selected for the 2014 season. The color of the button will change each year.

"We anticipate that this re-introduced product will be very popular with anglers and collectors, so we want their help with selecting the button color for 2014," PFBC executive director John Arway said.

The button will be the same size as in the past (1 3/4 -inch diameter) with a high quality pin backing and the angler customer identification number on the front.

Voting runs through Jan. 31, and ballots can be cast at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2014-PA-Fishing-License-Button.

2013 bear harvest: According to the PGC reports, the 2013 bear season yielded the fifth-largest bear harvest in state history. Three of the top five all-time bear harvests have occurred in the last five years, with a state record 4,350 in 2011 and the No. 3 mark of 3,632 in 2012.

Hunters in the Commonwealth scored 3,510 bears with 58 weighing more than 500 pounds, and nine more than 600 pounds.

Three of the top five all-time bear harvests have occurred in the last five years,

"Seeing large bears in the harvest speaks well to the health of our bear population, but it also shows the opportunity that exists to harvest a truly, trophy-sized animal," said Mark Ternent, the Game Commission's bear biologist.

The harvest's heaviest bear, taken in Lackawanna County on Nov. 25 by Daniel J. Beavers, of Covington Township, Lackawanna County, weighed an estimated 772 pounds.

A total of 197 bears were taken during the special bear archery season.

Locally, 57 bears were harvested in Carbon County, down from 67 in 2012. Schuylkill County yielded 35 bears, a drop from 39 the previous season. Northampton County gave up 18 bears, down three from the previous season, and Lehigh County produced no successful bear hunts, down from three a season ago.